NEWS: Grow Up Grandad @ Various Venues

Few new plays make it to publication, even fewer can say that they’re being printed by renowned London music and theatre publisher Josef Weinberger. Then again, few playwrights are as humorous, heart-warming and inspirational as Teesside’s Gordon Steel. The award-wining writer’s latest work, Grow Up Grandad, enjoyed an incredibly successful first run at the end of last year; so much so that it’s earned that lucrative publishing deal and is now touring the region, with shows at ARC, Stockton from Monday 5th until Saturday 10th, Playhouse Whitley Bay on Tuesday 13th, Bishop Auckland Town Hall on Wednesday 21st and The Customs House, South Shields from Friday 23rd until Sunday 25th September.

Presented by Steel’s own Teesside-based theatre company Steelworks, the play tells the tale of trouble teen Poppy and her cantankerous grandad. Used to living life as something of a hermit, grandad is suddenly confronted with a ball of energy who won’t stop asking questions. It’s fair to say that things don’t get off to the best of starts. On the surface, Grow Up Grandad is a simple tale of overcoming differences but, through Steel’s wit and heart-breaking drama, it becomes a poignant, touching look at inter-generational relationships. Make sure you take your hankies: this one will tug at your heartstrings and have you rolling in the aisles.